Timeless Series Finale: Second Chances
by BeforeItWasCool
Summary: Given a journal by their future selves, Lucy and Wyatt set out with Jiya and Flynn to figure out how to save Rufus.Working as a team, they form a plan to stop Jessica and take down is is a remix of the 1st hour of the finale. I wanted the story to be more true to the original series. I didn't bother with the 2nd hour or the visit to Brazil. No need with new timeline.


**TIMELESS: SECOND CHANCES**

**(THE MIRACLE OF CHRISTMAS REDUX)**

_Writer's note: This is a different take on the series finale. When the scene/storyline remained the same I skipped over it. I make slight mentions to what transpired in the original but do not go into detail. I felt that Lucy had her choices unfairly taken away by events in the original 2-hour movie. And since I can't go back in time to fix and refilm the finale, I did the next best thing._

Lucy sat on the cot. She stared at the cold cement wall. The dark, emptiness of the room mirrored her mood. Five years. For five years she had been fighting to put right what once went wrong. For five years she had fought against ever-encompassing Rittenhouse. Emma and her power grew stronger every day and nothing she and the team did seemed to make a difference.

She stood and walked over the desk. As always, the journal consumed her attention. She took a deep breath. Writing it, trying to recall all the important details, had been brutal. She had deliberately refused to write it at the time most of its entries happened. She had been trying to change fate…avoid the chaos and pain that it brought. Yet, when Rufus died she had spent a solid week filling the blank pages. And during the past five years she had taken time to write detailed reports of each mission, hoping that each entry might lead the team to a solution.

She ran a hand through her hair. It was shorter now. She had meant it to be a time-saving act but realized soon that it was actually an act of defiance: defiance against Rittenhouse; against a broken heart; against the loss of hope. The chance of stopping Rittenhouse had died with Rufus. It wasn't just that he was a genius or that he had years of inside knowledge on how everything worked. It had everything to do with the fact that he was the glue that had held the team together. He had been the light at the end of the tunnel leading the way and now they stumbled in the darkness. Days turned into weeks and they never got closer to stopping Emma's new organization and with each jump Emma's influence went further. Lucy sighed deeply. If rumors were true then the front runner in the 2024 presidential elections was a Rittenhouse agent. Someone needed to find the clues to keeping Rufus alive.

Lucy sat down at the steel desk and picked up her pen. She only had a few more entries to make. She was putting everything…everything… that had happened in this journal. Last time, she had given it to Flynn. He had slowed Rittenhouse down and together they had nearly stopped it. She hoped this time her handoff would be even more productive. This time she hoped those closer to the event that changed everything would figure out how to save Rufus. This can't be the end of our story, Lucy thought. We have come too far. We have sacrificed too much. There has to be a way to get back what we lost.

TIMELESS THEME…

Lucy waited until the Lifeboat stopped shifting. She looked up into the monitors in the Lifeboat and saw that the entire crew had gathered at the appearance of their Lifeboat. She was oddly nervous of the next few moments. Which was weird…since…it was them. She looked at Wyatt who only nodded and she knew he was feeling it too. This was the last chance. They had nothing to lose.

"If either of us start getting headaches we leave immediately," was Wyatt's only statement. He didn't want to do this. He had stated his case against it. But Lucy had threatened to go alone and he had come along. Jiya was no longer able to travel as her premonitions and trances had nearly taken over. She appeared to be in good health but was overtaken most days. She said the visions were generally repetitive but always differed slightly from vision to vision. She had likened it to getting a double exposure picture or radio stations between frequencies. They couldn't risk her going out during a jump.

Lucy nodded curtly, well aware of the danger. She smiled. A twinkle appearing in her eye. A twinkle Wyatt seldom saw anymore. "We should do something dramatic," Lucy said. "Make it like a movie entrance." Her smile faded. "Rufus would have like it."

Wyatt paused. A small smile creased his lips. "Could be fun."  
Lucy's eyes widened. "Fun? Wyatt Logan is agreeing to something fun?"

Wyatt looked at Lucy again and a softness appeared in his face. "Yeah, fun. For Rufus." He put a hesitant hand on Lucy's hand. "They'll figure it out. They have to. Follow my lead."

Lucy smiled back and nodded, grateful at Wyatt's attempt to calm her. He had always had that talent but had used it less and less as the years dragged on. "Okay. You start. I get to drop the news on Rufus."

Wyatt shook his head, "Drop the news…. Whatever." He hovered his finger over the door opener and with a nod from Lucy pushed it. For a brief second the hope he had felt before flared and he knew they might have a chance. The door slid open to reveal the team standing with mouths agape staring at them. He stepped out onto the edge. "Well. What are you waitin' on?" he managed.

"You guys want to get Rufus back or what?" Lucy responded, pleased that she had kept her voice gruff and impersonal. She had wanted to pause and then smile but the sight of them—so young, so demoralized—stopped her. The rushing of emotions at the memories of this moment long ago threatened to overcome her. The first throbbing of a headache hit Lucy then but she hid it. She needed to get the journal handed off and some suggestions made. There was no time for hugs and catching up. They jumped off the Lifeboat and quickly handed off the journal. The headache was constant now. Lucy's vision began to blur.

"Go to page…." The sharp stabbing pain shut down her ability to speak. She couldn't focus. She couldn't think clearly. She heard Wyatt revealing Jessica's deceit and saw the shock. Another wave hit and suddenly Wyatt was pulling her away and pushing her up the stairs to the old Lifeboat. Both of them jumped wondering what the world would be like when they opened the door again…

It was surreal, Lucy thought. She had just seen her future self and was now reading a journal she had yet to write. She recognized her handwriting, however, and couldn't deny the writing style. Plus, the carefully saved "souvenirs" she had kept secret from everyone were now taped inside. It was surreal. Wyatt had been reading with her at first but left as it became more personal…more personal about her feelings and relationship with Flynn. Wyatt had been shocked but Lucy hadn't been that surprised. Even before Jessica had returned and necessitated Flynn's insertion into the Jump team, Lucy had felt drawn to Flynn. His horrible deeds had given way to true loyalty to her. She trusted him and even when he had been "the enemy" he had never lied to her…never. Flynn had become her protector…from everything. She read the entries with anticipation and saw definite facts that showed the natural progression to love. She looked up and gasped as realization dawned. Flynn had read this already! She wasn't sure if the journal was exactly the same one she gave Flynn four years ago due to ever changing events, but it had to have this info in it. It answered a lot of questions on how Flynn had treated Lucy. She had long ago realized that he never intentionally had tried to kill or hurt Lucy. He must have not held too much truth in the concept of fate, however, since he didn't keep her safe or out of the line of fire either. Wow, Lucy thought. Looking back she had seen the shift in him. When he was ready to push the detonator and blow them all up she had honestly thought out loud that maybe God had sent him to her. It was as though the air had left him and perhaps he had thought of these very entries in the journal. He had been patient a long time….

The silence was broken by the alarm of the Mothership jumping. Lucy closed the journal and clutching it to her chest went to the control center. She heard the conversation and gave the information they needed but she kept her eyes on Flynn. He was either purposely avoiding her or was seriously intent on figuring out the next move, but he never looked her way. She saw his sling and remembered how he had still managed to pick her up off the ground in the alley and carry her back to the lifeboat. Both had been silent and pensive, devastated—the hope already leaving them. She remembered how only moments before the world had stopped he had been on his knee before her, finding the courage to tell her something. And now she knew what it was. She hadn't written that moment in the journal. Had it happened before? Or was it Flynn's own choices that changed history?

"The world needs saving," she heard Agent Christopher say, bringing her thoughts back to the matter at hand. "It's what Rufus would want. We need to find and stop their sleeper agent."

Flynn watched Lucy step into the new and improved Lifeboat. She dropped a duffle bag which probably contained the journal on the floor. He wondered how much of it she had managed to read. He had only glanced at her for a second when she came into the control room when the Mothership had jumped. She appeared dazed and knew that she had at least found out about the two of them. She looked…shocked. He avoided looking at her but had felt her stare on him the entire time. Oh, yeah, she had gotten to the good parts. He reached for the buckle and felt the painful twinge as he brought his shoulder back down.

"Hey, is your arm okay?" she asked, sincerely, but awkwardly.

"It's fine," Flynn answered more tersely than he wanted. He worried she was upset at what she had just read. She needed more time. He went with his baseline of teasing her to try to restore order. "But you have a little something right here," he sassed, putting his finger to his bottom lip.

"Make up can only cover up so much," she replied before turning away. This was going to be interesting.

Riding through the northern California hills in January wasn't completely awful. Oh, sure, they had all just seen the wanted posters of themselves and were once again playing catch up to Rittenhouse, but quiet moments like this allowed Lucy to enjoy her time travelling life. The weight of failure often crushed her history-loving heart and she was grateful to still know she could enjoy…things. She had experienced a lot of death recently and it often felt wrong to feel happy. She glanced at her clothes and again marveled she was a participant in the 1848 California Gold Rush. They were riding right now to Sutter's Mill! She had her own WANTED outlaw poster! This was cool. She rode next to Jiya. On the other side of Jiya, Flynn rode his horse confidently. The horse looked like a miniature pony with Flynn on him. She smiled at the image. He was finally getting to be a cowboy.

Jiya felt Lucy's gaze and turned, soon realizing that Lucy was looking past her. Jiya turned and looked at Flynn. He actually looked like he was enjoying this. He spurred his horse into a slow gallop and increased the distance between them. Jiya turned back to Lucy and watch Lucy's eyes follow Flynn.

"Like the view?" Jiya said, pulling alongside Lucy.

Lucy turned. "What do you mean?" she stammered.

Jiya nodded toward Flynn's back. "What was in that journal?"

Lucy feigned confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You've been staring at Flynn since you walked into the control room clutching that journal." Jiya laughed. She looked back at Flynn. "There's something in that journal you're not…." Suddenly, the scene in front of her changed and Jiya could see Flynn riding at a break neck speed. It was dark. He was alone. And just like that the scene changed back to the reality in front of her. She took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the reins. She finally heard Lucy calling her name. She turned and saw the concern and fear on Lucy's face.

"Jiya!" Lucy tried to reach out but couldn't get close enough. "Jiya! Are you okay? You nearly fell off your horse!"

"I'm okay. I'm fine," Jiya said quickly, telling the truth. This vision hadn't been accompanied by a blinding headache but obviously it had been noticeable. She was not holding secrets again. Any information could help get Rufus back. "I just had a vision."  
Lucy looked surprised. "You still have them? Did you tell anyone?"

Jiya nodded. "Rufus knew. Agent Christopher knows. This one was different. It was only seconds. I saw…. I saw Flynn. Riding fast on a horse. In the dark. That's it."

Lucy looked up ahead and saw the copse of trees ahead. "Let's go take a break over there. We'll tell Flynn and Wyatt." Lucy turned back to Jiya. "Can you make it there?"

"Yes, I feel fine. Really. Go tell Wyatt. The horses could use a break, too." Lucy lifted an eyebrow. "You learn a thing or two about horses after spending three years in Chinatown…."

They horses eagerly trotted over to the trees and immediately began eating the grass. Jiya told them all about the vision but with nothing else to go on they each quickly got water from their canteens for the horses. Lucy rubbed the nose of her horse. For a girl that had never even set foot in a stable her whole life she had become very comfortable around horses due to time travel. She felt Flynn's shadow on her before she saw him. He came up from the back of her horse after finishing taking care of his own. Lucy was immediately nervous but it dissipated when she remembered that Flynn had known about them since the beginning. The nervousness transformed into nerve and she was ready to confront him.

"You're not fooling anyone dressed like that," Flynn said, rubbing the horse's neck and looking directly at her. He looked like he was ready to talk too.

"General lack of females in the vicinity," Lucy shot back. "Two women on horseback would have been flagged a mile away." She stared back at him trying to read his face.

She took a deep breath. "All this time you knew what was in the journal."

Flynn looked away. "As I've told you it can be unreliable," he deflected.

Lucy waited until Flynn looked back at her. She made eye contact and held it. "I mean with us."

Flynn paused. The vulnerability she had seen in Chinatown was visible just below the surface. He quickly plastered a faint smile on his face. "Ah so you finally got to the good part, huh. It must have been," he looked over at Wyatt before looking back at Lucy. "…awkward."

Lucy didn't take the bait and remained silent.

Flynn's smile became genuine. "Well, was it everything you had imagined?" His dimples deepened. "You have been imagining it haven't you?" he teased.

Lucy smiled and rolled her eyes. She would never admit now that she had indeed been imagining it long before she read the journal. She knew that fact was definitely not in the journal.

"Why didn't you tell me we were going to be together?" Lucy asked earnestly.

Flynn ducked his head. "Honestly, I didn't really believe it. I'm not exactly your type."

Lucy flared in his defense. "You don't know anything about my type?"

Flynn's face became somber. "Also, I almost killed you a few times so there's that."

Both of them knew now that was just an excuse. Lucy had re-examined their interactions numerous times since they spent a few days together in Old Salem. There had been times that Lucy could have become collateral damage in Flynn's darkest days but there was never a personal, intentional attempt at killing her. In fact, she had heard a few times that Flynn had demanded she be kept safe. She wanted to argue with his logic but felt going forward was the best way.

Lucy was nervous but held eye contact. "In the future I must have seen a different side of you." She glanced away briefly before looking at him again. "I guess I've already started to."

Flynn's entire face softened. For a split second Lucy was sure he was going to tell her what he had wanted to in Chinatown. But in the next second Lucy saw his eyes darken. "Well, then stop. If you read to the end of the journal that affair we have ends badly because," he says, his words forced. He glanced over again at Wyatt. When he turned back to her his face had softened again. "Your heart always belonged to someone else," he said as though resigned to the fate the journal dictated.

Lucy looked over at Wyatt. What was going to happen with Wyatt? How did they get back together? Why did the journal determine fate? She looked back to Flynn. No. Not this time. She pushed aside the feelings of rejection and quickly realized that Flynn was doing what he always did…protecting her. She decided then and there to give her opinion on how the journal entries couldn't determine their choices in life. She never got to give the lecture she was forming in her brain. Suddenly, a band of Sonoran Outlaws led by Zorro surrounded them and amidst all the drawing and pointing of guns her lecture notes had to be filed away in her head.

"Jessica!" Wyatt exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at him. Flynn walked up behind him and squatted near the fire. The night had turned cold and his mood was matching it. "Jessica is the reason Rufus is dead," Wyatt continued. He had everyone's attention now. "Rittenhouse brought her back to distract me or spy on us I don't really know. But I played right into their hands when I brought her into the bunker." He sounded disgusted with himself.

Flynn looked at the others. They all appeared to share the same feeling of disgust. Wyatt continued as Flynn watched Lucy. She saw her attention drawn towards Wyatt and Flynn knew he was right in stopping their future relationship. He would figure out a way to make it all work. He still felt his calling was taking down Rittenhouse. He wasn't sure that Future Lucy and Wyatt were right about saving Rufus to save the world. He tuned back into what Wyatt was saying.

"Because Jessica lives Rufus dies so Jessica has to be taken out of the timeline somehow," he paused and kicked the dirt. "And I'm going to be the one to do it. I will make sure that you go back to your timeline. Because Rufus didn't deserve what happened to him." He looked at Lucy. "You didn't deserve what I did to you. I let everybody down. I'm gonna make things right."

Flynn looked up at this statement. Wyatt was basically suggesting he go to his own timeline and kill Jessica. That was more my style, Flynn thought. He looked at Lucy. She had recognized where Wyatt's thought process was going, too. It looked like Lucy agreed with Wyatt.

"I'm coming, too," Lucy said.

"We'll all go together," Jiya added.

Flynn shook his head. This gung-ho team attitude was almost inspiring. Almost. "That sounds like noble plan," he said looking at everyone glumly. "But if you all die trying to save Rufus who will be left here to save the world from Rittenhouse?"

Nothing but silence filled the air. The fire crackled and popped. Flynn knew their bravado had blinded their reason. Flynn knew there was one way to eliminate Jessica from the timeline, possibly save Rufus and keep Lucy safe with the one she truly loved. It hadn't been difficult to figure out and the solution was right in his wheel house. He stood, drawing the attention of the others.

"I'll ask Zorro to take second watch. Tomorrow morning we'll all figure out a plan to eliminate Jessica once we get back to our present time. First we stop Emma and Jessica in this timeline." He waited until he held Lucy's gaze and gave her the slightest of nods, a tiny smile dusting his lips. "Goodnight, Lucy," he said slowly, staring at her for longer than necessary. Then ignoring the others, he walked over to where he had laid out his blankets on the far side of the fire.

"What was that all about?" Wyatt asked brusquely. He looked at Lucy. "He knew all along. Didn't he? That's disgusting." He stood and walked away, taking the journal back to Lucy's horse, where he secured it in the saddle bag.

"What was _that_ all about?" Jiya said, looking at Lucy. "What did Flynn know?"

Lucy shook her head. "It's complicated." But Jiya would not give it up. "Future Flynn and Future Lucy have an affair."

"Whaaaaaaat?!" Jiya exclaimed, trying to keep her voice quiet. Lucy expected Jiya to express shock or disgust at her choice of lovers but Jiya's reply shocked Lucy. "Yaaaaasss! Agent Christopher owes me $20! I knew there was chemistry between you two. Denise said not in a million years but I knew!"

"Really," Lucy said, trying to act mad. "You guys bet on my love life in your down time?"

Jiya looked immediately contrite. "Look, don't take it the wrong way. We were all so upset at Wyatt's behavior. Even Rufus, who thinks Wyatt is a real-life Luke Skywalker, was ticked off. Flynn was always giving you the eye and when you both returned from Salem you were looking at him different, too." She looked deeply into Lucy's eyes. "He is a good man, just broken, Lucy, and he's finally finding his way. He's on our team. He's proven that to us all." Lucy nodded. Jiya then smiled her infectious smile and laid down on her blankets, pulling them up around her ears. She lowered her voice. "And for the record…I am all for that affair. As moody as Flynn is, he is also one good lookin' tall tree that I think you would be stupid not to climb." She laughed as Lucy's mouth dropped open.

Wyatt returned and sat down closer to the fire. Jiya winked at Lucy. Lucy looked away hoping the red had left her cheeks. "You two go to sleep. I'll take first watch right here." He waited until Lucy turned back to him. "We'll sort things out tomorrow. I'll make things right," he said only to Lucy. "I promise."

Jiya saw the fresh pain in Lucy's eyes and wanted to take it away. Maybe Flynn could do that for her.

Lucy awoke with a start. It took her brain a few seconds to process where and when they were in time. She had learned by the second jump that she just needed to let her brain work through the facts every time. She soon placed herself correctly in 1848 Gold Rush California and finally focused her eyes on Wyatt, who was stoking the fire with a large stick. It was bitterly cold. She glanced around at the rest of the bundled up team. But one was missing.

"Where's Flynn?" Lucy asked, sitting up.

Wyatt looked over at her. "He rode ahead to scout the mill."

"What for?" Lucy started to process the reasons. Flynn didn't do anything without a reason.

Wyatt shrugged. He wasn't Flynn's biggest fan and when Flynn said he wanted to ride ahead who was he to stop him? "He didn't say. Get some rest."

Lucy stared at Wyatt. "It makes no sense. It's too cold and dark to do anything effective. When did he leave?"

Wyatt looked over at Lucy. He knew why she asked. He knew why she cared. He definitely wasn't Flynn's biggest fan. Not by a long shot. "About 10 minutes ago. He still needed to saddle his horse."

Wyatt didn't even finish the sentence before Lucy bolted out of her bedroll and raced over to where Murietta and his men had tied up the horses. Flynn's horse still stood there, saddled and ready to go, but Flynn was over by Lucy's horse. He was closing up the saddle bag. Lucy watched him buckle it firmly and then walk towards his horse. He grabbed the saddle horn as he lifted his leg to the stirrup. Lucy's voice stopped him just before he pulled himself up.

"Flynn?" she asked quietly but loud enough to carry across to him. She watched him pause and decide if he was going to continue to mount. "Where are you going?"

He slowly took his foot out of the stirrup and turned around. Looking at her, he realized he should have mounted the horse and talked from there. He looked down at the ground, licked his lips and summoned the bravado he did not feel. "I'm riding ahead. I'll scout out the mill and get us information." Another lick of the lips. A clench of the jaw. "We can't count on having Murietta's gang with us. We need the intel."

Lucy stared at Flynn. She had an idea of what he was actually planning on doing. She waited for him to come clean. He had never intentionally lied to her. She didn't think he'd start now. The showdown lasted five whole seconds.

"Fine," Flynn sighed. "I was going to go find a solution for the Jessica problem."

Lucy had thought as much. "You were going to use the lifeboat to travel back and kill her."

Flynn didn't even blink or look away. "Yes."

Lucy didn't have any contempt or confusion about Flynn's plan. She had realized within minutes of reading the journal entries that Jessica was the grenade that had blown everything up. She had been waiting for Wyatt to discover it, too. But she hadn't anticipated Flynn to decide to solve the problem on his own.

"We can't jump into our own timeline without problems. Big problems," Lucy said. "Did you have a plan figured out or were you just gonna go hang out until you had the chance to kill her before your brain exploded?"

Flynn shrugged, feigning uncertainty.

Lucy again didn't buy it. "Spill."

Flynn looked down and kicked the dirt with his boot. He had come up with a plan. An iffy plan, but a plan none the less. "Jessica didn't die when she was supposed to. You came back from 1930s Hollywood and everything blew up. I figured I'd take the Lifeboat back to 2012 and make sure the serial killer did his job." He looked back up at Lucy. "Or do it for him."

"You'd be taking a big risk you could get the Lifeboat close enough and within the timeframe." Lucy put her hand on his arm. "Plus Future Me was only with us 2 minutes and you saw her breaking down. You might not even be coherent enough from the effects to get the Lifeboat back to here."

Flynn smiled. "Well, thank heavens future Jiya added the Autopilot upgrade."

"There has to be another way," Lucy said.

"I've gone through all the scenarios," Flynn said quietly. "This is the best I could come up with. I would get the Lifeboat back to you. I promise. And then you and Wyatt would get Rufus back."

Lucy saw the resignation in Flynn's eyes. He knew he may not make it back whole but was willing to risk it to keep the Time Team's chance of stopping Rittenhouse alive. Lucy wouldn't let him do alone. She started to tell him as much when they both heard Jiya shout out Flynn's name. They both turned to see her running towards them. She looked scared and exhausted and Lucy had to grab ahold of Jiya's arms to steady her.

"What?" Lucy asked.

Jiya ignored her. "Flynn," she said, her voice calmer now. "I had another vision. It started the same as before but this time you were riding toward the mothership. Then you were lying on dirt. Or sand like a beach. Dead." She turned to see his horse saddled and bridled. "What's going on? Where are you going?"

Lucy quickly filled her in on Flynn's plan.

"No, that's not a good plan," Jiya said. "That's what I saw. You leaving and you dying."

Flynn shook his head. He believed Jiya saw things for whatever reason but didn't hold too much faith in them. "Jiya, thanks for … thinking of me but this is what's going to happen."

"But I saw you definitely dead. On a beach."

"I'll stay off the beach."

"We all know my visions on death aren't super accurate, Flynn," Jiya said.

Wyatt had now joined them and they managed to talk Flynn into going back to sit by the fire and working, as a team, on a better solution. It was decided that the timeline repair had to happen now. Flynn and Wyatt actually agreed that the timeline was stagnant at this moment. Dawn was two hours away. Nothing would happen in 1848 Sacramento in the next two hours. But then Flynn and Wyatt started a pee-ing contest to see who would be going back to kill Jessica. Lucy and Jiya sat and watched and only intervened when it became physical. Lucy was still trying to figure out an alternative.

"Look, settle down everyone," Lucy said once they had Wyatt and Flynn sitting on opposite sides of the fire. "We're a team." Flynn looked up and directly at Lucy. "Yes, ALL of us are on the team. And as a team we are going to figure this out together." Lucy stood up. "There is no "I" in TEAM, people. We can do this! We can! Together!" She looked around the circle making eye contact with everyone.

There was silence.

Flynn spoke first. "That was supposed to be a pep talk, right?" Lucy shrugged. "You never played sports did you?"

"It's true, though," Jiya said. "We have to all do this. I know future Lucy and Wyatt said now Lucy and Wyatt had to figure it out but I'm all for team spirit. Let's lay this all out. What we know."

"We all agree Jessica is the starting point. Her reappearance pushed over the first domino," Lucy said.

"We all agree we need to eliminate Jessica. Kick her out of the timeline," Wyatt calmly said. "I need to be the one to do it. I'll do what Flynn was going to do. I'll take the Lifeboat back."

Flynn shook his head. "I'll do it. I am the smallest cog in this whole thing."

"Shut up, Flynn," Lucy said.

"Yeah, shut up, Flynn" Jiya agreed. "We can figure this out. Nothing really changed until you all got back from Hollywood. That's when Wyatt got the phone call."

"Well, actually, it wasn't until we were in Salem that Wyatt brought her into the bunker," Flynn said. He saw Wyatt flare. "No judgement. Just facts." He held up his hand in truce. Wyatt calmed and nodded.

Jiya looked at Lucy. "So really….really we just need to stop Jessica from coming in the bunker."

Lucy nodded then a smile spread on her face. "Or capture her once she came in. Think of the info we could get!"

Flynn smiled. "Wow, that's not what I expected from the mild-mannered history professor." He nodded his approval. "I like it." He smiled just for Lucy. "I like it a lot."

"Great. We don't have to kill Jessica but we still have to figure out who goes back to warn them. We can't travel back where we already exist," Wyatt said.

The only sound was the crackling of the fire as the logs caved in on themselves. Lucy's yelp startled all of them. "I've got it! I know what to do!" Lucy looked over at Flynn. "Sorry, Flynn, but you are the only one to do this jump."

"So much for that team concept," Flynn muttered.

"Not for your original reasons, Flynn," Lucy said sincerely. "We've always said that we can't jump within our own timelines. We know that two of a person in one timeline creates massive problems. But what if that dual existence is not based on an individual's lifespan. What if it's merely based on two of the same brains in the same timeline?" She turned to Jiya. "Is it possible that a future me could be in a year I exist but am currently not in."

Everyone stared at Lucy. Wyatt and Flynn then turned at the same time to look at Jiya. They looked confused but she understood. Slowly she spoke, "Well… I suppose so. Yes, that could work. The conflict is between two of the same person occupied the same … 'air space.' We always assumed it was based on a lifespan but it might not necessarily be the case." Jiya paused again. "Yes, and even if it didn't work 100% it would definitely lessen the effects." Flynn raised his eyebrow. "You wouldn't die as soon." Flynn shrugged and looked back at Lucy.

Wyatt shook his head. "All of us were there at different times throughout that entire time. We went on three or four missions during the time she was in the bunker. There's no way we could time it precisely enough. With missions returning almost immediately from when we left we all were in that bunker nearly all the time."

"Except one of us. Flynn." Lucy said. She paused. "For almost two days while we ran around the Bay Area looking for John F Kennedy, Flynn was hanging out…."

Flynn nodded. "In 1934," he finished.

"Exactly." Lucy smiled at her own cleverness. "The jump may happen in Flynn's timeline but Flynn won't be there."

"But we have to get the jump almost perfect. And where? Jumping back into the bunker is a bit obvious," Wyatt said.

"Plus, it's already been done," Flynn said. He looked at Wyatt. "I wouldn't want to steal your future thunder." Wyatt did not respond.

"The autopilot feature is way more precise than how we used to program the old Lifeboat," Jiya said. I can get it within an 18 hour time frame. But where?"

"I happen to have the home address of one Agent Denise Christopher," Lucy said smugly.

"That would work," Jiya says.

"If she doesn't shoot me first," Flynn muttered. "How do I convince her I'm the good guy?"

"Use that Flynn charm," Wyatt snarked.

Flynn smiled at Wyatt. "Sure thing. It worked on Future Lucy…." He winked and Wyatt's hand went into a fist.

"Shut up, Flynn," Lucy said. "Jiya, figure out the coordinates for the jump and write them down for Flynn. Then give him a quick lesson on how to work the autopilot." Jiya immediately stood up and ran over to her saddle bag and grabbed some paper. Lucy turned to Flynn. "I'm sorry but you'll have to go to the Lifeboat alone. It's over an hour's ride back the other way. We need Wyatt and I don't think it's safe for Jiya or I to ride back alone."

"I understand." He stood. Lucy stood as well and walked over to stand in front of Flynn. Wyatt watched her stop in front of Flynn, not him, and he stepped back away from the fire and into the shadows.

"You'll need to go convince Denise to put Jessica under lock and key. Then get back in the Lifeboat and come back here." She lifted her hand to the collar of his duster. "You must… come back."

"Lucy," Flynn said quietly. "I just want you to be happy."

"How is it your job to decide for me what makes me happy and what doesn't?" Lucy said firmly. "I'm a grown woman. I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions."

Flynn remembered him saying that exact thing to Wyatt before. Now he was the one needing the lecture. "But the journal…"

"Is history and we both know history isn't set in stone…or paper." Lucy outlined the edges of his vest. Flynn watched her and said nothing. "Just come back."

Flynn nodded.

Jiya slowly approached them. She didn't want to ruin any moment. "I have the coordinates. Both for getting to Agent Christopher's house and back here. I also drew a little diagram of the autopilot controls. I'll run you through them."

Lucy stood by Flynn as Jiya gave him a crash course in piloting a time machine.

Wyatt also watched but his focus was on Lucy. He had hoped to be the one to make things right as a way to atone for his sins. And now Flynn was getting the opportunity. Wyatt had been shocked and incredulous that Flynn and Lucy would become a couple according to Lucy's journal. But at this moment that seemed a greater possibility than his chances at reconciliation. He grabbed ahold of Lucy's elbow and pulled her aside.

"Do you actually think this will work?" Wyatt asked.

"Yes. I actually do," Lucy replied. She seemed mildly annoyed that Wyatt was doubting her.

"That's not what I mean," Wyatt said quickly. "Will this restore the timeline?"

"I don't know, Wyatt," she said. "You know better than anyone how fickle the timeline is."

Wyatt looked at her. "Lucy, if we stopped Jessica before she called me after Hollywood…." His voice trailed off.

"I know, Wyatt," she said softly. "But even if we go back to Rufus being alive and no one knowing what happened **I** will still know what happened. I will still remember the absolute crushing feeling of rejection from you and yet a bittersweet happiness for you." She shook her head.

"So no matter what you're just gonna move on," Wyatt said.

"No. I'm just trying to move forward." Lucy looked directly into Wyatt's eyes. She needed him to see her sincerity. "I don't know what's going to happen. We can't know. Ever. I don't know who I will be with. I don't know how this will all end. I just know we need to stop Rittenhouse. You've read the journal of what could happen. But that's a hard 'COULD.' If we can't change it why would we risk bringing it back to ourselves?" Lucy laughed at the strangeness of that thought. "I'm giving myself a headache. I'm going to just go back to teaching about history and not predicting the future."

Wyatt smiled. He had a glimmer of hope. A small glimmer but it was enough. He decided to let Lucy set the pace. She was worth the wait.

Jiya was finished. She gave Flynn a deep hug. Both she and Flynn laughed.

"A hug?" Flynn teased.

"Yeah." Jiya said. "We're practically family now. Stay away from the beach."

"No problem. I burn easily."

Wyatt shook Flynn's hand. Flynn straightened up to his full height and looked down at Wyatt. "I'll tell them to be civil to Jessica."

"Why?" Wyatt said. "She used us all. Tell them to do whatever is necessary."

Flynn gave a single brief nod. He looked at Lucy. "Take care of her."

Wyatt felt a finality in Flynn's tone. He raised an eyebrow but Flynn gave another brief nod and walked over to Lucy. He took her arm gently with his hand and led her away from the group towards his horse. He walked her to the other side, away from the others.

He looked down at her. She was so much shorter than he was. He had found the height difference amusing at first but then found it was the perfect difference to fully protect her when needed. He waited until she looked up at him. All the noble words he had planned to say left him. It all sounded too dramatic. Too cheesy. He was doubtful that after all he had done, Lucy could fall in love with him. He remembered reading about her pain after Wyatt's breakup and after their own breakup. Flynn still felt that while he would carry out their plan to arrest Jessica he would still carry out his plan to make sure Lucy had the best chance to be happy. He had managed to get the letter explaining all of it into the journal in her saddle bag. That would have to do. Except.

He reached out a hesitant hand and softly stroked her cheek. She smiled at him and taking ahold of his hand brought it to her lips and kissed it. That was his permission. He wrapped his arms around Lucy and pulled her up against him, lifting her off the ground. Her arms wrapped around his neck. He kissed her slowly and softly once. Then a second time before slowly lowering her back to the ground.

"Good bye, Lucy," Flynn said still holding onto her.

Lucy's wrapped her arms around his waist and held tight for a minute. "See you soon," she replied.

Then Flynn stepped out of her embrace, and mounted the horse. Taking one last look down at Lucy, he spurred his horse and with a snap of the reins rode off into the night.

The autopilot had indeed been easy to program. Jiya had a very detailed drawing of where everything was and had done a thorough job of explaining the process to him. Jiya had said that once he put the address in, the autopilot would select the safest place for the Lifeboat to land. Flynn knew he may have a longer span of time to work with but if he had to walk 10 miles to get to Agent Christopher's house he was in trouble. He still hadn't figured out how he was going to convince Agent Christopher to listen to him when the autopilot took over and jumped him through time and space.

When you time travel the whole world begins to twang. There's no better word for the sensation. One moment things are solid. Clear. The next moment things begin to twang. It's like when you pull back a rubber band around your fingers and then let it go. There's still only one rubber band but it suddenly looks like a thousand little rubber bands all fighting to break free from the original one. Flynn was experiencing this now. In the Mothership the Twang wasn't bad with some help from magically-placed gyroscopes. Regular doses of Dramamine helped keep the nausea to a low level. When Flynn joined the team in the bunker he got to experience the original way to time travel. No magically-placed gyroscopes. And upon landing he lost everything he had eaten since the beginning of time. This future Lifeboat had some cosmetic improvements with the newer controls and the autopilot was a definite upgrade. But as soon as they had taken her to Sutter's Mill the first time everyone knew that no effort had been made to find a few second-hand gyroscopes to ease the twang. Jiya profusely apologized and promised to write her future self a note.

Flynn dealt with the motion sickness by keeping his eyes closed as soon as the Lifeboat jumped. He kept them closed for a while after they landed. Just until the rubber band slowed down and all its translucent brothers got back to together. He had to let his eyeballs and brain stop rolling, too. Keeping his eyelids closed helped the equilibrium return to normal. Sometimes his brain stopped twanging at the same time but sometimes it didn't. This was one of those times. Flynn's immediate thought was that the calculations had been wrong. That his brain was already imploding by being too close to his past self. Then he remembered the task at hand. He remembered his directive. The plan. The plan that would free Lucy up for whatever choices she wanted to make.

He opened his eyes. Time to get back to work.

Flynn looked up to the large monitor inside the Lifeboat. It was a composite video feed of 10 small cameras mounted around the outside of the hull. It gave a crystal clear picture of all the activity around the ship. He was in the middle of copse of trees in a park. Looking back at the console he was in a park just over a mile and a half from Agent Christopher's house. And he was only an hour from the time his past self would return from 1936. He looked down at the boots, stolen from a forty-niner much shorter than him and almost 2 sizes too small. He quickly pulled them off his feet. He stood and peeled the duster off as well. A two-mile run would a lot easier with proper shoes and clothes but that wasn't a luxury he had. He opened the door and took a second to get his bearings. Then he began to run.

Denise awoke to someone calling her name. She opened her eyes to see Connor Mason looking concerned and frantic. She was in her car again, the glass from her broken window laying in pieces on the seat and floor around her. Her car was parked in front of her house. She could see the lights on and knew that her beloved family was inside getting ready for bed right now. She held back a gasp of fear.

"Denise! Are you hurt?!"

Denise raised her head and sat up. The events came flooding back to her and the adrenaline shot through her veins. The memory of the pain and fear threatened to overwhelm her. She clamped it down. "Connor?! What are you doing here?"

Real concern covered Connor's face. "Looking for you! What happened?! These agents managed to track your chip."

Denise opened the car door and slowly got out. She saw the men standing behind Connor. She was grateful for their presence right now. She shook her head and took a breath. "Carol Preston wanted to have a little chat."

Both heard the front door of the house open. Denise looked to see her sweet daughter bound happily out of the house.

"Mom?" She asked, curious and confused. "Who you talking to?"

Denise let her bruised face break into a smile and turned toward the house. She hoped the shadows would hide the damage Carol's thug had inflicted. "Hi, Sweetie Pie!" she said cheerily. "Mom's just talking to a friend from work." She saw Connor smile and wave with fake joviality. "Just go back inside. I'll be in in a minute." She watched her daughter smile and accept her answer, trusting all was well. Her eyes followed her daughter back up the stairs and safely into the house. She turned back to Connor.

Connor saw the bruising on Denise's face in more detail and sucked in a deep breath. "What is it? What did Lucy's mother want?"

Denise looked grim as she replied, "To remind me that we both have families to lose."

Connor watched amazed as Denise composed herself completely and steeled herself up. Connor knew Carol Preston was in for some payback.  
Denise turned to speak to the agents who had been waiting quietly nearby. "Get another squad out here to protect my house. Don't let anyone within a half mile." One nodded and pulled out his phone to process the command. Denise turned back to Connor. "Any word on our AWOL president?"

Connor nodded. "When I left to come here Jiya had just found JFK via Snapchat posts. Lucy and Wyatt were headed to a party to grab him. They are going to bring him straight back to the bunker. The lifeboat is ready to go. That was about 20 minutes ago. Now that I know you're fine….relatively, I'll go back and make sure the future greatest US president in history gets back to 1936." Denise looked at him and tried to speak. Connor shook his head. "Go inside, Denise, and be with your family. We can do this one thing without you. We…"

The sound of guns being drawn out of holsters and the sudden flare of activity from the homeland security agents behind them cut off Connor's plea to Denise. They turned to see the agents now pointing their guns down the street behind them. One of the agents was racing over to stand between Denise and Connor and whatever threat was approaching them. Denise instinctively withdrew her own pistol, finding herself begrudgingly thanking Carol Preston for returning it. She held out her gun and searched for the target. She saw it immediately. It was a man. A tall one. He was running down the middle of the street not even trying to conceal himself. He had his arms raised above his head and appeared to be out of breath. As he got closer and ran through the street light she recognized the man. It was Flynn. And he was barefoot. For a brief second Denise began lowering her gun then Connor spoke.

"It Flynn. But he's in 1936."

Denise brought her gun back up. This was a past Flynn. This was Enemy Flynn. "Stop!" She yelled out. "Freeze, Flynn!" The agents picked up on the seriousness in Denise's voice and aggressively began to approach Flynn. Flynn stopped immediately.

"Denise!" he called out. He stood completely still, his hands raised. "It's me. Flynn." He paused realizing she knew that. "Not 'evil terrorist' Flynn. I'm bunker Flynn. I'm the Flynn you busted out of prison."

"Keep your hands up," Denise yelled. "Don't come any closer."

"I don't have much time, Denise," Flynn implored. "I need to talk to you." He began to walk toward the collective group of people holding guns. He walked slowly. The sound of guns cocking echoed down the street.

"Flynn!" Denise called. "I said stop."

"Denise," Flynn's voice was almost imploring.

"You have the journal. You've read it. So have I." Both Connor and Flynn looked surprised. "I know Lucy wrote about you breaking out. About you working with us. You need to freeze. You've killed in cold blood before. I can't take the risk. Not with my family less than 100 feet away."

Connor turned back to Flynn. This was the man who had destroyed his life, had ruined his creation. He turned back to Denise. "I don't know how he's even able to be here. This is his own timeline. Just hold him. Keep him confined. His brain will start to hemorrhage soon."

Flynn looked sad. "Connor. I'm hurt. We had such a great time arguing over whether it was the Salem Witch Trials or the Salem Witch Scare. I showed you the shiney buckles on my boots. I thought we were mates."

Connor looked at Denise, suddenly unsure.

"It's in the journal," Denise assured Connor.

"Tell me something not in the journal, Flynn," Denise said. Flynn shrugged his shoulders. "Tell me about the bunker."

Flynn's laughter was loud and long. "The bunker? Why? Because all of the depressing details of that horrible sinkhole is wonderfully left out of Lucy's journal. That's probably because of the PTSD the stale cereal and boxes of sugar-filled choco-odiles gave her. I swear I asked you a million times to pick up one new box of real Cheerios and you never, never listened. 'But, Flynn, you said, you're the only one who eats the cereal and there's some left.' I couldn't have finished that case of Fake-ios in a decade!"

Denise smiled. She remembered all those conversations. All those requests. They never made it in the journal because Lucy hadn't been there. She lowered her gun. Then told the agents to lower theirs. Flynn smiled back. He took a tentative step forward and then stopped. When the guns were kept down he crossed the distance between them and stopped at the back of Denise's car. They finally got a closer look at him. He smiled when he saw them check out his outfit.

"The latest in Gold Mining Fashion. Stolen from an unfortunate Forty-Niner at Sutter's Mill. The time team is there…now. Rittenhouse is taking advantage of the gold rush to load up their bank account. One day I'll find someone my size and actually have clothes that fit." He looked down at his bare feet. "The Lifeboat is about two miles from here. I wasn't up to running in antique boots that were too small." He shrugged.

"You'll soon begin to feel the effects of time travelling where you already exist," Connor said, concerned. "You must go back."

Flynn flashed a bright smile. "Actually, I'm not here," he said. "I'm in 1936. Technically. Jiya and Lucy theorized that maybe the restriction wasn't limited to one's lifetime but one's actual physical presence. They felt it was safe enough for me to jump back to warn you. As long I'm gone before I get back from taking care of Rittenhouse agents in 1936 Connecticut. What a day that was. And so far I've had no pain. Nothing. I've only been here about 20 minutes now but so far so good."

Denise looked concerned. She had just had an unsettling night and now a future Flynn had showed up. Things were never good if someone had to travel back in time. She knew that by much experience.

"Denise," Flynn said softly. "I need to talk to you. It's about Jessica. She's in the bunker with you now. In just a few days she's going to kidnap Jiya. She's going to dump her in Chinatown in the 1800s and when we go back to save her…" Flynn paused. Did he tell them? Did he start their pain and sorrow early? He decided he wouldn't. "We go get her but things change. They change drastically. I need your help."

Connor looked at Denise. He was looking for confirmation. Denise shook her head. She turned to Connor. "This isn't in the journal. I've had my suspicions of Jessica even though she's always been alive in our present. But I never expressed them to Lucy. The journal actually doesn't have Jessica in it at all. The timeline Lucy was writing it from Jessica was still dead. That's why I've never trusted her. I took it up with Wyatt but well. He didn't respond well. I was planning on sending him to the location I was being held at."

Flynn nodded. "Lucy and Wyatt from the future visits us and gives us an updated journal. With an addendum. Due to what happens in Chinatown Rittenhouse increases in power. The journal says that it's a Rittenhouse stooge as the front runner for the 2024 presidential election."

Connor guffawed. "Are you sure the current US President isn't a Rittenhouse stooge?"

Agent Christopher turned and stared at him. "Even Rittenhouse wouldn't back this president."

Connor nodded in agreement. "No greater truth has ever been spoken."

"Except that if you don't keep Jessica under lock and key as soon as possible Rittenhouse will continue to terrorize," Flynn said quietly. "They will surely go further than America once their president is in place."

Denise took only a few seconds to make her decision. She went with her gut and turned toward the agent standing next to Connor. "Agent Willis. Take three men with you back to the bunker and quickly and quietly detain Jessica Logan when she returns with Lucy and Wyatt. She is not to have any communication with anyone. You may have to detain and isolate Logan as well until I get there. Get another female agent to be ready to help you conduct a thorough search for any tracking or communication devices on her body. Search her room and belongings as well." Denise turned back to Flynn. "How long do you have before you get back from 1936?"

"Less than 35 minutes by my calculations," he said. "So… I'd better run. Forgive the pun."

"No. I'll drive you back to the Mothership myself. Connor. Did you hear? Flynn says he has a souped-up time machine from the future in a park down the street. Wanna go see it?"

Despite all the heaviness of the tasks at hand, Connor's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Ah. Yes?" He was already moving back to Denise's car and getting inside.

Denise laughed. Flynn chuckled. "I appreciate the lift." He dipped his head before looking at her again. "And the trust."

"Of course," Denise said quietly. "You're on my team." She smiled then looked down at his bare feet. "And I can't have a member of my team running around the gold fields without shoes." Denise looked over at the remaining agents. "Anybody here have a size 14 shoe?" Flynn cocked his eyebrow at Denise in silent wonder. "I know everything about you, Flynn." She paused. "Don't you forget it."

"I wear a 14 ½!" called out one of the agents. He was about 3 inches shorter than Flynn but his muscles were definitely more threatening.

"Deal!" Flynn said happily. The agent untied his combat boots and even pulled off his socks. Flynn thanked him and then got into the backseat of Denise's car. Denise quickly gave instructions for the agents to stay at her house until backup arrived then she too got in the car. Flipping a tight, quick u-turn, they all headed back toward the Lifeboat.

The morning dawned incredibly cold and Lucy decided she was done travelling back in time without modern thinsulate long johns. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked to see who else was awake. Murietta, AKA Zorro, was loading up gear. Wyatt was heating up some cornmeal Zorro had offered them. Jiya was still tucked deep into her bedroll. Assorted members of Zorro's gang milled around completing a variety of tasks necessary to break camp and move on. But there was no Flynn. She looked around the entire camp and still no Flynn.

"He's not here," she heard Wyatt mutter. "No one has seen him."

"Hmmmm," Lucy said.

"And there's no Rufus either," Wyatt continued. "I guess he failed. We're back to square one."

"Flynn doesn't give up easily," Lucy said more for herself. "Maybe he missed the time or place for returning."  
"He has autopilot," Wyatt replied gruffly. "We shouldn't have let him do it."

"Wyatt," Lucy said quietly.

"We shouldn't have trusted him. How do we know he's not a spy?"

"That's enough, Wyatt!" Lucy snapped, finally sitting up completely. She hadn't slept well due to the cold, the hard ground and her worry for Flynn's success as well as for his safety. She wasn't in the mood for a grumpy, rainy cloud Wyatt. "Let's find Emma and… Jessica. If she's here." She put her boots on and stood up. "Let's eat and move on."

"Move on? How? We are right back where we started. And it's still all my fault. I'm still the one that messed up everything. I was selfish and stupid and blind and I messed up."

Lucy said nothing. She only rolled up her bedroll and gently prodded Jiya awake.

"You have nothing to say?" Wyatt asked quietly. Lucy said nothing. "Lucy."

Lucy turned and finally looked at Wyatt. She saw his pain and his regret. She saw true remorse as well but, as usual, he was still just thinking of himself. "Yes, Wyatt, you messed up and put us all at risk. And now we have to fix it. I don't see how rehashing all of this and throwing shade on a man who's risking his life to help you fix your mistake will do anyone any good." She handed him her bedroll. "Load the horses. Let's do the job we originally came here to do." She stepped toward him and put a hand on his arm in an attempt to soften her words. "Wyatt. I'm not ready or qualified to absolve you right now. Let's give Flynn more time."

Wyatt stared back at Lucy. After a long quiet moment, he nodded. He took the bedroll and gave Lucy the stirring spoon. He turned and walked away. Lucy watched him. She missed the companionship they had shared. She missed the easy camaraderie. But things had changed and regardless of what the future brought she would not ever be that person again.

"Hey, you okay?" Jiya asked from across the fire. She was sitting up and awake and had heard all of their conversation.

"Yes," Lucy said. "Well, I will be."

"You're right, you know," Jiya said. "About everything. Wyatt will get through this. And Flynn will succeed." Jiya saw Lucy begin to speak and put up a hand. "Flynn has to succeed."

They exchanged a knowing look and Lucy nodded. She squatted down and began to stir the cornmeal knowing she'd better eat some despite her lack of appetite.

Connor Mason was like a little boy on Christmas morning. At first he had been unimpressed with the Lifeboat. The outside looked like the future Lucy and Wyatt hadn't even taken time to even wash it. It was beat up and assorted dents and scratches and probably bullet holes looked left as is. But as soon as Flynn opened the door Connor could see all the time had been spent upgrading the inside. Flat, touch-screen computers decorated nearly every inch of the interior. He could see right away the modifications to the systems and his brain did a series of "light bulb" moments as it figured out what and why. He smiled and ooohed and ahhhed. Denise and Flynn watched from the door.

"This is brilliant!" Connor kept saying over and over. "The way this is now connected and receiving this. And the battery recharge? Switching out? Why did I not think of that?" Connor ran his hands over the reduced and more efficient consoles. "Future Rufus is truly a genius! Although I'd like to believe I may have thought of some of this!"

Flynn gave a sad smile. He wouldn't tell them it was actually Jiya that did the work based on plans she and Rufus had sketched on random pieces of paper. There had been no mention of Connor Mason in the journal he had received beyond the Titanic Mission. But perhaps they had changed that as well. So Flynn just smiled and nodded and Connor was too distracted to notice anything else.

Denise did notice. She looked at Flynn carefully. He felt her gaze and looked down at her.

"What aren't you telling us?"

"A lot, Agent Christopher," Flynn said wearily. "A lot."

"You're not going to share with the entire class?"

"No," Flynn replied. "If the plan works there's nothing to share."

Denise instinctively knew that Flynn wasn't being deceitful or deceptive. Flynn was just sparring them information that may never be important in the future. She nodded her understanding back to Flynn.

"I need to leave, Mason," Flynn said. "Time to put the toy away so you can get to sleep."

"This is so marvelous!" Mason said. "I'm still trying to figure it all out so I can duplicate it."  
"That's not a great idea, Connor," Denise said. "We tread very lightly and carefully with the timelines these days. I think this upgrade needs to stay in the future."

Connor sighed. "Of course, of course. But maybe just this autopilot. It would allow anyone to fly the lifeboat. As evidenced by our man, Flynn. You simply put in the date and voila!" He pretended to input a series of numbers and touch the screen but his finger got too close to the screen, which blinked a dark green followed by a series of questions for data input. They all could see that data had been entered already and the date was not January 28, 1848. Both Connor and Denise turned to stare at Flynn. His face went blank. His eyes narrowed.

"December 1, 2014?" Connor read out. "What is that date? I'm not a historian but I am unaware of any significant events happening on that date."

"That's two weeks before Rittenhouse killed his family," Denise said quietly. She took a deep breath. "What is your personal agenda, Flynn?"

He didn't answer.

"Are you trying to save your family?" Denise asked. She put a hand on his arm. "We all know how great the risks are to existing timelines when that happens. It could possibly even alter the changes you risked your life to come here for."

"I can warn them. I can warn myself to get out. To hide." Flynn looked away and then at Denise. "I can save them."  
"You need to get the Lifeboat back to the team in 1848," Connor said incredulously. "I can guarantee that if you actually TALK to your present self your brain will explode within minutes! Maybe seconds!" He was now getting worked up. "The team will never get the lifeboat back! They will be trapped in 1848! How can you be so selfish?"

Denise watches as Flynn slowly looks at both of them and then the ground. She can see the pain and indecision race through his eyes.

Flynn's voice is barely a whisper. "The Lifeboat will get back to 1848 exactly where they left it."

Then Denise understands. Then she realizes that what Flynn is planning is the exact opposite of selfishness. "You're going to drop yourself off in 2014 then use the autopilot to return the lifeboat to 1848. You're willing to definitely die for the very slight chance you can prevent your family from dying."

Flynn looked at Denise. "It's my sacrifice."

Denise's face hardened. "It's your suicide!"

"I am willing to give up everything I now have to save them," Flynn said. "Because everything I have now is nothing compared to what I had!" He stands up to his full 6'4" height and towers over Denise. Connor sees the change in his demeanor and worried, leapt out of the lifeboat to stand protectively beside Denise. "I need to leave now. I have it all worked out."

"All worked out, eh?" Denise replied, not at all intimidated by Garcia Flynn. "I'm trying not to get offended at being called nothing. At our friendship being called nothing. I'm trying to see how stopping Rittenhouse so the world is safe is nothing." She takes a step closer to Flynn. "I'm trying to see how your relationship with Lucy is nothing."

Flynn flinched. "I know you read the journal. You also know that that relationship was doomed. My actions will make her choice easier."  
"Your actions will make her choice disappear."

"She'll be choosing the better man."

"According to who? You? The Journal?" Denise scoffed. "That journal has been wrong just as often as it's been right. Each time it jumps things change and new timelines are created. The timeline in the journal is not the timeline we are in."

"She deserves better," Flynn said.

"She deserves whomever she wants!" Denise nearly yells. "You are both good choices and she deserves to have the option."

Connor cleared his throat. He didn't know what they were talking about. His first thought was always to save the Time Team. To save Rufus. "Flynn. I know this autopilot thing makes everyone a pilot and it seems foolproof. But the Lifeboat still needs to charge between jumps. I haven't the time to figure out how to see what the battery is at now but what if there's no more charge to autopilot the lifeboat back to the team? What then? You die and they die." He coughs. "I understand you want to save your family. And quite honestly, I understand the desire to sacrifice yourself for those you love. I was willing to do that for Rufus after Rittenhouse blew up Mason Industries and I thought he was dead. I understand. But right now there's a bigger picture. And we should be making sure that stays in focus."

Flynn turned to look at Connor. "How long will it take you to figure out battery strength? I've got five minutes."

Connor laughed. "Five minutes? It took me five minutes to find the "on" switch!"

"And you have to leave before we get the other Flynn back from 1936," Denise commented. She placed her hand on Flynn's arm. "I know you miss your family terribly. I can't even begin to imagine the pain you have endured. I do know that your suicide mission to save your family will most likely fail. I do know that Rittenhouse, as long as they have the Mothership and a complete disregard and respect for people, will find a way to take away your family again. They manipulate the timeline according to their needs and they will continue to do so until we stop them. We need your help to stop them. You are absolutely no good to us dead. Connor is right. Stopping Rittenhouse is the only way to even hope to get our lives back." Denise took a deep breath. "And until then you deserve every happiness that this life has to offer." She stepped back from Flynn and Connor and towards the car. "I need this lifeboat to return to 1848 for the time team." She turned back to face Flynn and slowly put her hand on the butt of her gun in the holster at her hip. "It is going back. I will, however, allow the present day time team currently gathering at the bunker to take you to your family in 2014 and drop you off. I want you to return with this future lifeboat to the future time team. I want you on the Time Team for professional… and personal reasons. But it's your choice."

She waited. Her hand still resting on her gun. She would use force if needed to send the lifeboat back. She hoped she wouldn't have to. Flynn just stared at her. She could see him weighing the options. His plan had a slim chance of success and both of them knew it. Denise just hoped that Flynn would recognize his chance of happiness now had a much greater chance. No one said anything for a full minute. Then Flynn nodded.

"I'll go back to 1848," he said simply.

Denise smiled. "Excellent." She dropped her hand and looked at Connor. "Come on, Connor, we have a busy night ahead of us. Let Future Flynn and his super machine go." Connor hesitated. He looked at Flynn who gave him a small nod. Connor nodded back and walked over to the passenger side door. "Thank you, Garcia Flynn, for your service," she said warmly. She nodded to him and then smiled. Flynn returned the nod but did not smile. He just climbed back into the life boat and the door closed heavily behind him. Denise walked to the car. They both felt the familiar hum and tingle then the movement and noise and "SWOOSH!" as the lifeboat churned and disappeared. They stood staring at the emptiness.  
"How can we be sure he's actually going to 1848 now and not carrying out his original plan?" Connor said quietly.

"Garcia Flynn may be many things, Connor," Denise said as she reached for the car handle. "But he is not a liar." She pulled the car keys out of her pocket. "Now we have a Rittenhouse agent to interrogate."  
"That last sentence sounds almost giddy," Connor said.

They both got in the car and Denise started the engine. She looked out the space that had once been a window. "I have some favors to return is all."

The horses were nearing their breaking point when they finally arrived at Sutter's Mill. The sun had heated up the day and everyone had drank their canteens dry. It had taken an hour of hard riding to reach the Mill. And there had been no sign of Flynn.

"Where's your tall friend?" Zorro asked ask they approached the edge of the settlement. "I thought he was scouting for us."

Lucy had not stopped looking around for him since they broke camp. "Uh, that's a good question."

Zorro laughed. "Tell him he can keep the horses. You are true to your word. Unlike most Americanos I have met." He laughed and then touched the brim of his hat. "Now if you'll excuse me I have some mining to do before you people destroy this land." And with that he guided his horse away, followed by his men.  
"Wait!" Jiya called after him. "Uh…."

"Let him go," Wyatt called back to them. He had been silent until this moment. "We'll find the sleeper agent on our own. With our without Flynn." He spurred his horse from its slow gait.

"But what if we need backup?" Jiya called out louder.

Wyatt ignored her. He wasn't interested in any of their complaints. He was trained soldier. A Delta Force Soldier. Handpicked for this job from all the soldiers out there. He didn't need backup.

"Uh, Wyatt?" he heard Jiya call out.

"Wyatt?" Lucy repeated.

He needed to let them know he was in charge and perfectly capable of anything that came their way. He turned in his saddle and watched as who could only be Rittenhouse agents pull guns on Jiya and Lucy. He turned to find another agent waiting for him with gun drawn. He only had time to sigh and swear before he was pulled off his horse and shoved into the ground.

The late afternoon light filtered in through the slits in the wooden walls. Several layers of dust covered everything and created a golden haze. Lucy, Jiya and Wyatt sat on the dirt floor. Their hands were tied behind their backs and the feeling in their arms had long ago disappeared.

"Never thought I'd say this," Wyatt mumbled. "But we could really use our tall friend right about now." He coughed as though trying to clear the words out of his throat.

"Yeah, where is he?" Jiya asked. "And Joaquin?

Lucy snorted. "Probably halfway to Sonora with pounds of gold," Lucy replied. She didn't answer the question on where she thought Flynn was. Her thoughts were not very optimistic.

"What ends up happening to him?" asked Wyatt. He had cared little about the fate of those he encountered when he first joined the Time Team. Now, however, with his own fate being altered so radically by Time travelers he was more curious.

"Gets killed in a shootout in 1853 by California Rangers," Jiya answered quickly and matter-of-factly.

"Hmmmm," Lucy says, obvious disagreement in her professor's voice. "It was never proven that it was him. Historians disagree."

"Oh, it was him," Jiya stated. "I saw his pickled head in a far in Chinatown in 1888." She didn't even wince. Lucy again wondered and worried about all she had gone through.

Wyatt tried again to loosen the ropes tying his hands behind the post. "Let's just find a way out of here before OUR heads get pickled…"

He hadn't even finished the last word before they could all hear the sounds of commotion outside. The galloping and neighing of horses combined with shouts of warning in English and Spanish from the men outside.

"Wait…" Lucy said. "What is that?"

The commotion got louder and then gunshots began ringing out. Instinctually, they all tried to get as low as they could.

"Sounds like Flynn is really Flynning it up out there!" Jiya shouted excitedly.

Lucy felt the adrenaline rush through her body at the thought of Flynn being back. She should have never doubted it. Flynn always got the job done.

"FLYNN!" Lucy yelled. "We're in here! It's US! Help us!"

"Yeah," Wyatt shouted. His face was the opposite of Lucy's. "It's about time!" he growled.

If Lucy had been closer to Wyatt, her heavily booted foot may have accidently jerked out and kicked him in the shin. She called Flynn's name again. Then again. Then the door burst open and in came their beloved Rufus, the sun creating a halo around him. Jiya nearly fainted. Lucy and Wyatt smiled so hard their cheeks hurt. And hope was restored.

"Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!" Rufus called out, enjoying the moment, and knowing full well just how epic he looked with the sun shining in behind his back. He slowly took his gun and pushed up the brim on his hat. Too bad no one had their phones with them, he thought. That entrance was epic! He looked around and saw them all staring at him like he was a vision. He knew the entrance had been good but he did not expect this welcome. Rufus was sure they would be ticked off at having to wait so long for rescue, but there had been so many Rittenhouse stooges to deal with.

Jiya was screaming his name. Rufus untied her first. She threw her arms around him and held him so tight he couldn't breathe. She was crying as she spoke, "He saved you." Rufus pulled back and looked at her. Rufus untied Wyatt next, who quickly untied Lucy and then all three of them were hanging on to him.

"Sheesh," Rufus said, completely confused. "It's been two days."

"You were dead!" Lucy and Wyatt both said and all the other conversation was getting drowned out by an increase in the sound of gunshots from outside. Rufus thought it best to solve this puzzle later.

"We're all gonna be dead if you don't get out now!" Rufus turned and raced out. Jiya raced after him quickly. Wyatt stood still and looked at Lucy.

"I guess he did it," Wyatt said, his happiness of seeing Rufus alive not masking his sadness that Flynn now had this success on the scoresheet. He reached inside his jacket and handed the journal to Lucy. "I grabbed this from your saddle bag while they were tying you up. I thought it would be important to hide." He looked down at the ground. "I guess this is why you end up with Flynn." He muttered, petutantly.  
Lucy stared at Wyatt in disbelief. "I don't end up with Flynn," she said quietly. Her shoulders straightened. "But maybe I don't end up with you either," she said more loudly. "This journal is ONE record of ONE timeline. A timeline that didn't work and so we were given a second chance." She held up the journal almost with disdain. "Now. With Rufus back. Whatever is in this journal is now as much a part of history as the California Gold Rush is." She stepped back from him. "I will no longer let this history book dictate what decisions I make in the future. I won't."

Wyatt looked at her. She was right of course. It was her choice. It always had been. He held her gaze for a second longer then turned and left her. She watched him walk out. The sound of gunfire had suddenly stopped. A joyful celebration began outside and Lucy knew the danger was over. She looked down at the journal in her hand. She suddenly knew she would never be ruled by it again. She opened it up and looked at it now like one of the history textbooks she had taught from for so many years. And like those textbooks it was just one version of what had happened. A small corner of paper got her attention. It was a folded piece of paper and she pulled it out from the pages. Someone had slipped it in there and when Lucy saw her name on the front her heart sank. Opening it, she began to read. Reading it, she began to cry. Sadness and anger clouded her vision. This is what she had seen Flynn putting in her saddle bag. This goodbye note. Finally, a declaration of his true feelings followed by his decision to let her choose Wyatt. He better not be dead, she thought, 'cause she was going to kill him.

And then she heard his voice. That deep, heavily accented voice that held a bucket of sass with every note. She was happy and pissed off at the same time. Shoving the note into the journal she walked out of the building and stood on the sorry excuse of a step at the door.

There stood Wyatt, Jiya, Rufus and Flynn by a line of bodies in the dirt. It was obviously many were dead but a few simply looked like they wanted to be. The men stood together, hands on hips, looking like hunters surveying their catch. And they weren't wrong.

"Took us forever to get here," she heard Rufus explaining. "We didn't anticipate the encounter with Zorro." He nodded. "I thought we were goners but apparently he and Flynn are old friends."

"I travel in interesting circles," Flynn sassed.

"You got the sleeper agents?" Wyatt asked.

"Of course," Rufus said, almost insulted. "This isn't my first rodeo. And with Murrietta's help we rounded all the bad guys up. Except Emma." He shook his head. "I don't know how she manages to sneak out every time. But I guess that's easy if she's letting everyone else do the fighting."

Wyatt looked at Flynn then at Rufus. "Jessica? He asked Rufus quietly.

"Still locked up in the deepest chamber we have at the bunker," Rufus replied quickly. "She's one leather mask away from being Hannibal Lector." He looked at Wyatt in confusion. "Why do…." He stopped in mid-question. He saw Lucy at the door of the building looking at them like she was going to explode. "Whoa," he said, whistling. "Who pissed Lucy off?"

Flynn and Wyatt immediately looked at each other.

"What did you say to her in there?" Flynn asked Wyatt accusingly.

"Me? Why? It could be your fault! You're the one that took forever to get here."

"Garcia Flynn!" Lucy called out from her step on the porch.

Wyatt and Rufus both stepped back from Lucy relieved that it wasn't either of them at the end of the cannon. Lucy was holding the letter. She waved it at Flynn. When he saw it he knew what fueled her anger. He also then took a step back.

Lucy looked down so she could navigate the step. She wanted to chew Flynn out to his face. Then all hell broke loose again. She looked up to see Emma stepping out from the large sycamore tree that stood just beyond the line of dead Rittenhouse agents. Shots rang out and in her panic, Lucy tripped over the last step and fell to the ground. As she went down she saw Flynn leap towards Emma, pushing Rufus and Jiya down and away as he did. Another shot rang out and from her position on the ground she saw Flynn stop in mid stride and drop to the ground. She looked at him on the ground then at Emma, who had turned and was taking aim at her.

This was it, Lucy thought. This is how it ended. Shot in a unknown moment of history. She was right. The journal was useless. More gunshots rang out and as she heard a bullet whiz over her head she watched Emma's 1888 faded lavender dress erupt in a shower of blood. More shots could be heard and suddenly the dress's lavender shade could no longer be seen. Emma's eyes stared at Lucy with supreme hatred as her body fell to the ground, the contact never faltering. Lucy watched as Emma took her last breath glaring with open malice and contempt back at her. She broke the gaze to see Wyatt, Rufus and Zorro all holding their guns on Emma's inert form. She saw Jiya kneeling in the spot where she had been knocked down by Flynn. Flynn. She looked for Flynn. He was laying on the ground in the dirt, his arm lowering. His smoking gun still in his hand. She watched as he crumbled onto his back, blood spreading on the dirt underneath him.

"FLYNN!" she yelled, leaping to her feet and running the short distance to him.

"This is what I saw," she heard Jiya say quietly. "This was in the vision."

Lucy kneeled on the ground next to Flynn. She put her hands on the side of his face. "No! Flynn!" she said forcefully. "It's not a trade! You hear me. It doesn't work that way. You for Rufus. NO!"

Flynn opened his eyes and looked up at her. He coughed. His eyes closed again.

"Flynn, please! It's over now, please, " Lucy cried. She let go of his face and rested her check against his. It was hot and flushed. "Please, I want a chance at being with you," she whispered into his ear. She pulled back and pushed his dark hair off his forehead. Flynn opened his eyes again and reached with his right hand toward his jacket. He was trying to take off his jacket. Lucy saw what he was doing.

"Stop. Let me," she said, calmer this time. She pulled back his jacket to see bright red blood soaking through his shirt and vest. She ripped open the vest and shirt and saw the entry wound. The small round bullet had made a clean hole just below his left collar bone.

Wyatt had knelt down across from Lucy and now examined the wound. It was bleeding badly but wasn't life threatening. Wyatt sighed. He glared at Flynn. "It's okay, Lucy, it's okay."

Zorro had walked over in concern as well. He took a look at the hole and laughed. Pulling off his scarf, he handed it to Wyatt who immediately pushed it against the wound. "No preoccupado, senorita. No es nada! Mi amigo will heal well. If he is as macho as he thinks he is he will be riding out of here with a saddle bag of gold!" Zorro patted Wyatt hard on the back and then whistled for his gang. "Vamanos!" he yelled out. "Hasta luega, amigos! It's been a very… rewarding partnership." He sauntered off and within seconds the area was clear.

Lucy looked after them as they rode off. She looked at Wyatt, confused. "Flynn's not going to die?" she asked. "But he's not responsive. The blood."

"It's not a fatal wound, Lucy," Wyatt said, smiling. "We need to remove the bullet, but with antibiotics and a few stitches he'll be fine. I'm sure he'll come around soon." He shook his head. Wyatt took Lucy's hand and put it on the scarf on Flynn's chest. "Here. I'll figure out where the lifeboat is and how to get Flynn out of here fast." Wyatt smiled a sad smile, knowing that his chance at Lucy had passed. She had made her choice. He looked at Flynn. "Damn, Flynn. You had to go save Rufus…twice."

At this Flynn opened his eyes. Both Lucy and Wyatt saw the sparkle. "Just completing the mission."

Wyatt rolled his eyes and stood up. It appeared to be an accident, but Wyatt's foot bumped into Flynn's leg as he walked off. Flynn only grunted. Then he turned back to Lucy.

She was glaring at him and so he said nothing.

"The letter," she finally stated.

"Yeah, about that. My plans changed."

"How so?"

"I decided you deserved a chance to choose," Flynn said.

"Really." Lucy responded. "A chance to choose."

"Yes."

"You seem pretty confident about my choice."

"I do now," he grinned at her. He tried to sit up but Lucy pushed him back down using the hand holding the scarf on his wound. He grimaced. Then smiled up at her.

She ignored his charm. "Don't get too… macho. I'm still deciding."

"Well, I'll be around when you decide," Flynn said quietly. She let him sit up then. She let him lean forward and she let him place a soft kiss on her lips. He used his good hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. He stared at her and smiled. The moment lasted only five seconds. Flynn broke the silence with a painful groan. He lowered himself back to the ground. "This may not be life threatening but it's damn painful. And in my good shoulder, too. Crap. Tell Wyatt to hurry up with that Lifeboat. He's taking his time on purpose."

He closed his eyes and Lucy sat down on the ground, her legs having fallen asleep. She pushed his hair back again then with her free hand held firmly onto his. She was still holding his hand when the Lifeboat swooshed into the open area by the building and held it until Rufus and Connor helped him out of the Lifeboat and into a bed in the bunker.

EPILOGUE

The next day everyone shared their version of the events and finally got the full story. They had congregated in the kitchen. Jiya hadn't let go of Rufus since they had returned from 1888. Rufus didn't seem to mind. Wyatt had visited Jessica when he first returned and with the amount of venom she spat at him he easily shook off any feelings of remorse for her incarceration. Flynn had received medical care and now sported a sling on his left arm. He was still a bit pale not only from the blood loss but from nearly 36 hours of no sleep. He sat with Lucy on the couch at the edge of the kitchen. The couch was small but they sat so close together there was still room for a third person. Every now and again Lucy would reach out and touch Flynn. Flynn didn't mention it. He just enjoyed it. He didn't even know if Lucy even realized what she was doing. It didn't matter either way.

Flynn was taking his turn filling in the blanks. "I jumped from Agent Christopher's house with the intent of returning to Sutter's Mill," he explained. He hadn't told anyone about his original plan. He suspected Lucy had figured out part of it but not from anything Denise or Connor had said. "But having no way to determine the battery percentage prior to jumping I was in mid-trip when the Lifeboat's alarms went off. Low battery alarms during time travel is not for the week of heart."

Connor stood up, gaining people's attention. "For the record, I predicted that possibility."

"Yes, we know," Denise said, smiling. "Contine," she said to Flynn.

Flynn smiled with Denise, remembering the conversation that happened less than a day ago for him but almost 5 weeks ago for Denise. "Yes, you were right," he continued. "But apparently, another bonus of the autopilot is that when the battery runs too low, possibly compromising the jump, it reprograms the jump to a default location. The bunker on the current day of its last jump."

"I was sitting at the desk when the hair on my arm stood up and WHOOSH!; the Lifeboat, but not the Lifeboat, suddenly appeared," Rufus said excitedly. "It was awesomely epic!"

Flynn grinned. "Sorry, Wyatt, I guess I did steal your thunder."

Wyatt just glared at him.

"We were shocked to see him, quite frankly," Connor said. "Remember we had sent him back to you and then gone straight to the bunker to take care of Jessica. She was frightenly determined to get away. We ended up having to sedate her. And Wyatt," he looked over at Wyatt, who sat at a table by himself. "Sorry, man. I'm still sorry about that."

Wyatt looked at Connor. He shrugged. "I have no memory of that. So don't worry about it. I'm sure you did what was necessary because I'm sure I was a jerk about it."

"Very decent of you, mate," Connor said, nodding.

Agent Christopher now took over the tale. "We were surprised to see Flynn since we had assumed the mission he was on had been successful. Everything was going along smoothly and we were catching up to Rittenhouse. We had just sent you all out to 1888 during the gold rush. Flynn leaps out of the Lifeboat screaming at us to recharge the "damned contraption" so he could get back. We thought he was possessed!"

"I knew how long it took to charge the lifeboat and I was worried I would be too late."

"Dude," Rufus said. "We own a time machine."

Flynn just glared at him. "And we never get into any trouble or danger, right?"

Rufus nodded. "Point taken."

Connor took over the story now, he was still standing and now animatedly walked back and forth as he spoke. "Well, we quickly realized,"

"Not me," Rufus interjected. "I stayed pretty confused for a while."

Connor cleared his throat and continued, "I quickly realized what had happened and solved the problem. You see, since Flynn's unexpected visit in the future lifeboat I secretly muddled around some of the technology I saw…despite Denise's insistence I didn't. It took only a week or two to figure out the rechargeable battery system on the fancy lifeboat and duplicate for the one we had. We even created TWO batteries so we could swap out the dead one."

"It was like a pit stop at a Nascar race. Faster than a greased gazelle on a slip and slide," Rufus called out. Everyone just groaned. "Except that we need a small forklift to hoist the battery in and out. Other than that… just like what I said."

"I was willing to go alone, but Rufus insisted on coming with me," Flynn said.

"I wasn't going to let this glorious upgraded Delorian of a Lifeboat leave without seeing how she flew! Come on!" Rufus smiled. "Plus, I figured y'all would need my help. And I was right." Rufus did an invisible mic drop and settled back into his chair, arms folded.

Wyatt spoke quietly. "So Flynn didn't tell you you had been dead?"

"Nope," Rufus said, shaking his head. "Why would he. I hadn't. At that point."

Everyone turned to Flynn. He shrugged. "Didn't see why I should at that point. I was focused on getting back really. I figured we'd fill him in eventually."

Rufus laughed. "Your welcome when I burst in the building sure was strange though not knowing in your world I was dead. Glad to know you missed me."

"The sensitivity on the Lifeboat when it comes to avoiding human contact is a bit high," Flynn continued. "It set us a good 5 miles from Sutter's Mill. We ran about a mile before we heard horses coming. It was pitch dark and we had no idea who it was. Lo and behold, out of the shadows comes Zorro and his band."

"Imagine my surprise when Zorro leaps off his horse and instead of shooting Flynn through the eyes he hugs him like a long lost friend!" Rufus laughed. "They heard our story, minus the time travel, gave us horses and rode back with us. We raced through the night and got there just as the sun was rising. Even then, it took us a while to pick off enough Rittenhouse thugs to even the odds enough."

Jiya looked at Lucy. "The other vision I had of Flynn."

Flynn cracked a sly grin. "You're having visions of me now, Jiya? Rufus, you definitely have problems. First puritans. Now me." He winked at Jiya and nodded his head at Rufus.

"Shut up," Rufus and Jiya said in unison.

Wyatt stood up and walked a bit as he sorted the new information out. "So how is it there isn't another time team still out there in Northern California? How is there not two lifeboats now?"

Connor smiled. "Simple. The timeline caught up to itself. The first journal didn't have any information on Rufus' death. By giving it to Flynn in 2012 you altered the timeline of that journal. Then when you sent Flynn back to tell us about Jessica it created another timeline. Most things stayed the same but with slight variations. When the Lifeboat "rebooted" because of low battery it snapped back to its last present day location. It came to the same day we sent out the other lifeboat to the same location for the same purpose with the same team. Rufus stayed behind this trip because he hurt his back working out the day before."

"Working out?" Wyatt scoffed.

"Just trying to stay in shape is all. Go on, Connor," Rufus replied.

"By Flynn jumping in here two days ago it reset the timeline again," Connor said.

"So the other time team?"

"No longer exists as the timeline they were in no longer exists," Connor said matter-of-factly. "It makes me sad and confused because I loved those people and the experiences we had but we'll get used to the new faces." He smiled, clearly showing he was joking…slightly.

"So Emma jumped to Sutter's Mill instead of Jessica?" Lucy asked.

Denise nodded. "Yes. We suspect Emma was collecting more gold for financing."

"Gold is always worth something," Flynn said. "No matter when in time you go."

"Exactly," Denise said. "We think she must not have gotten as much as she needed during their jump to Chinatown."

Wyatt, Flynn and Lucy all sat up straight at the mention of that name. They all looked at Jiya, who nodded. She had gone over this with Rufus during the night.

"Like Connor said. The past few jumps have played out almost exactly like the ones we remember. Rufus and I compared notes and it's quite remarkable. But this one was obviously very different. This jump was instead to 1906 just before the San Francisco earthquake," Jiya told them. "Emma intended to break into the Bank of America and grab the gold during the aftermath. She had multiple sleeper agents and modern technology to blow the vaults which were holding gold recently brought in at Fort Point."

Lucy looked at Jiya. "How long were you there for this time?"

Rufus held onto Jiya's hand. He answered the question. "Three weeks. We got separated during the quake. We were buried in the rubble and taken to different hospitals. I, of course, was shipped out of the city limits to a hospital more suited to my "injuries." Jiya was in a coma. I didn't regain consciousness for a week and by then all four of us had lost contact with each other. You and Flynn jumped back here and looked through newspapers. You found Jiya's picture on a list of unidentified patients and tracked her down. It took a bit more time to find me." Rufus looked down and away from the group trying to hide his feelings. "I just wish that Jiya had experienced this Chinatown trip. Not the one she told me about."

Jiya put her arms around Rufus. "I have you back. I can live with the rest." Then Jiya leaned forward and looked at Wyatt. "Jessica had nothing to do with us being there. I don't remember any of it of course. That happened in a different timeline."

"Yes I know," Wyatt said. "But we know what happened and what you went through and for that I am still sorry."

Jiya nodded her head. She stood and went over to Wyatt. She hugged him as he sat there. Then she walked over to Lucy and sat on the coffee table in front of her. She reached for Lucy's hand. Lucy was worried. What did she know? What else was different about the team's trip to Chinatown?

"Lucy," Jiya said calmly and softly. "Your mother is still alive."

Lucy felt the blood drain from her face. She physically couldn't breathe. Her eyes clouded over and Jiya's face disappeared. She could feel Flynn tense up. He immediately put his arm around her shoulders and took ahold of her hand.

Denise walked over and sat by Jiya on the coffee table. She could see the turmoil and pain this information had caused. She understood why. Mother-Daughter dynamics involved a peculiar set of baggage. She put her hand on Lucy's knee. "We don't know for sure if Emma hadn't ever intended to kill her or had failed to. Up until last night we hadn't questioned it. In going back over the details with Rufus, it seems as though she had probably intended too but when you and Flynn jumped back to get Jiya you managed to also prevent her from meeting up with your mother and Nicholas. It was very chaotic for a long time and both sides scrambled for days to establish any high ground."

Lucy still hadn't spoken. Flynn knew what question she would ask so he asked it for her. "Where is Carol now?"

"At Rittenhouse HQ -wherever that is these days. Nicholas Keynes is still alive too as far as we know. We are close to finding them. So close, Lucy," Denise said confidently. "I have a plan in the works…involving your father." Lucy made startled eye contact then, but still didn't speak.

The room was quiet. Flynn continued to watch Lucy. He watched for any sign of distress or pain. He watched her wondering how this must feel. He had been the one to console her on her mother and to assure her that she was not her mother. He had been witness to her pain as a daughter at the loss while dealing with the relief that her tormentor was gone. And now she was weighed down and confused at the fear she now had because her mother was actually alive. He squeezed her hand once. Then again. She finally turned and looked at him.

"It's not over," she whispered quietly.

"No. It appears not," Flynn replied softly.

"At least the maniacal scary freak known as Emma Whitmore is dead," Rufus declared.

Denise nodded. "That is actually to our advantage," she said. "She was truly diabolical and evil. We'll have more effect knocking out a hierarchy than a dictator."

Flynn hadn't realized that he had begun to rub Lucy's shoulder. She held his gaze. Finally, she stood and everyone stood with her. Flynn stood close by but didn't touch her.

Lucy looked around at the team. All the people that meant the most to her in the whole world was in that room. Regardless, that some of the adventures might not completely match up the overall experiences of time travel was the same. They had a bond that no one else could understand. Despite the changing dynamics they could only rely on each other and together held the future in their hands.

Flynn looked down at Lucy. "Are you okay?"

Lucy looked around at the people surrounding her. Instinctively, they all took a protective step closer to her. She finally smiled. Her voice wasn't steady enough to speak so she just nodded. The wave of relief washing through the group was tangible. They would continue fighting until they won. And Lucy knew they would win.

Suddenly the alarm sounded throughout the bunker. Everyone tensed. It was so soon but what did they expect. Rittenhouse was relentless.

Jiya ran over to the control board. She looked at the screen trying to determine where and when the Mothership had jumped to this time.

"The mothership jumped to April 10, 1912. Southampton, England," she called out. Everyone turned to stare at the historian, silently asking her what that meant."

Flynn immediately turned toward Lucy and together they said, "The Titanic."

A slight smile played on the corners of Flynn's mouth and Lucy blushed as the rest of the team raced to get the Lifeboat ready.

THE END


End file.
